So, you want to go freelance?

Are you a marketer thinking about going freelance? This super-practical guide walks you through how to define your offer, use AI well, and build a sustainable, client-ready business.

“I’m considering setting up on my own” … “The plan is to go freelance” … I’m hearing this on a weekly basis now from friends, clients, CMOs, marketing managers. People who want more control over their time, their trajectory, and the kinds of work they say yes to.

Maybe it’s about balancing career with raising a family. Maybe it’s wanting variety: different sectors, different clients, a chance to stretch your brain. Or maybe, you’re just tired of internal politics. (Let’s be honest, agencies still seem to have the most fun.)

If you’re considering life as a freelance marketing or brand strategist, here’s how to get started and build something that lasts.

1. Understand your real value

Marketing tools change. Brand trends evolve. AI is rewriting the rulebook weekly. But your value as a strategist doesn’t come from technical mastery. It comes from clarity.

What are you brilliant at?

What do people always compliment you on?

When do colleagues say, “You made that make sense”?

Ask a few people you’ve worked with what they think your “superpower” is, the thing they always associate you with. Then shape that into a simple service offering.

2. Treat your business like you’d treat your client’s

Freelance marketers who don’t apply marketing thinking to their own business? Wildly common. But you wouldn’t let a client run scattergun marketing, so don’t let yourself.

Ask yourself:

Who is your audience?

What are their pain points?

Where are they hanging out, in person and online?

What messages do you want to own?

Once you have clarity on this, your marketing becomes intentional. Your LinkedIn bio, your website, your networking - it all points in the same direction.

3. Start with your network (but not just the obvious people)

Don’t begin with “who can give me work?” Start with “who have I loved working with?” or “who gets me?”

Freelance momentum often comes from the most unexpected coffees. It doesn’t need to be salesy. Conversations create opportunity, especially in the early days.

4. Embrace AI without becoming robotic

If you’re serious about future-proofing your marketing career, get fluent in AI. Not in a gimmicky, prompt-regurgitating way, but in a practical, strategic way that actually saves you time.

Build your own proprietary prompts - the ones that help you get under the skin of a problem, generate better campaign ideas, or shape raw insight into a format you can playback to a client.

Use AI to buy back time and then use that time to get away from the keyboard. Think. Walk. Map things out on huge sheets of paper!

5. Make it fun to work with you

No one wants another dry strategy call. Make workshops engaging. Give people space to think.

Clients remember how you made them feel. So, create spaces, work and events that feel energising, not draining. That alone will make you stand out.

(And if you want to inject some fun before you go freelance, I run workshops to help people map their next steps, build their brand, or test their offer - just ask.)

Final Thought

Going freelance is a bet on yourself - on your clarity and creativity, on your ability to be useful to people and businesses who need you.

I’ve helped dozens of marketers get started. I’ve got a checklist I always share - everything you need to know to actually set up shop.

Want it? Drop me a note.